Tilden Regional Park Sunset, Berkeley Hills, California

One of the books that inspired me to pursue the photography that I do was Galen Rowell’s, “Bay Area Wild“. As a lifelong Bay Area resident, Rowell created this Sierra Club book to highlight the wild areas within the Bay Area with a strong message of conservation. Having been exposed to this book early in my development as a photographer, I’ve always adopted a “shoot local” philosophy for my own photography no matter where I’ve lived because there is landscape photography to be found anywhere if you look hard enough, and hopefully the photos inspire people to take pride in their local wild landscapes so they aren’t overrun by corporate interests or ruined by trash. Use your voice and ballot box to be heard.

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Trees and Foggy Sunset, Point Reyes National Seashore, California

It seemed only fitting that I arrive to the only location in Point Reyes at sunset that wasn’t socked in with fog to encounter my friend, Gary Crabbe, leading his one-day panoramic photography workshop. Truthfully, I wasn’t surprised at all because we share a similar philosophy about photography; go where the light is and find a landscape to complement it. And man, what a spectacular sunset it was. We were virtually eye-level with the fog and sunset but it was off in the distance behind a ridge so there were great views to be had by everyone.

See more of my San Francisco Bay Area photos.

Fog in Forest, Point Reyes National Seashore, California

In my “Why Nature Photography?” blog post last week, I described what to me is the pinnacle of nature photography; the emotional connection to the land. I had another one of those moments the other day as I explored a forest by myself at Point Reyes National Seashore. I had never been to this location before but it really spoke to me and felt more Pacific Northwest to me than the rest of Point Reyes. This location clearly sees a lot of precipitation in the form of fog as evidenced by the lichen and mosses on the trees.

I spent about two hours exploring this forest and went on divergent trails without encountering a single soul outside of the trailhead. The experience felt primal for lack of a better word. I love the Golden Gate Bridge, don’t get me wrong, but I didn’t move back up to the Bay Area to share tripod holes with tourists. I came here to pursue the nature photography that originally drew me into photography more than a decade ago. The cool thing about places like this is that tourists and most photographers have no interest in these types of locations because they have no obvious photos to make so if you do encounter anyone it’s most likely to be a local nature lover or serious fitness buff.

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Elephant Seal, Point Reyes National Seashore, California

There were a lot of elephant seals laying out on the beaches at Point Reyes National Seashore. They truly are fascinating animals that have come back from the verge of extinction 100 years ago. The more common locations to view elephant seals are typically at Point Piedras Blancas just north of San Simeon and at Ano Nuevo State Reserve along the San Mateo Coast near Santa Cruz so it was an added bonus for me to be able to photograph them at Point Reyes as I hadn’t anticipated doing any wildlife photography prior to seeing them.

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Monterey Cypress Tree Tunnel Panoramic, Point Reyes National Seashore, California (Click to Enlarge)

I made my first visit to Point Reyes National Seashore in nine years the other day. The day started off promising and it appeared that I might get some sunlight as I drove west into Point Reyes but I encountered a thick wall of fog once I hit the Drakes Bay area which never really burned off so I was initially frustrated that I wouldn’t be able to make any images of the famous Drakes Beach or Chimney Rock. Then as the day went on, Point Reyes finally resonated with me for the first time because I think I had always gone there looking to make a certain type of image, of which the weather rarely affords in this part of the California coast.

Point Reyes is considered to be the 2nd windiest place in the United States and the windiest on the west coast, and is almost always shrouded in fog for much of the year. That creates a certain type of landscape that is worn down from the elements so once I started going about seeking out such scenes I started to really feel an emotional connection to this place. I sought out places I had never been and had a great time overall. I can see myself going back there more frequently in the future and might camp out at Drakes Beach so I can hopefully catch a morning sunrise there eventually…

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Stormy Sunset Over San Francisco, California

Sometimes you just have to pinch yourself to realize that you are not in a dream. God I love the Bay Area.

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Second-Growth Coast Redwood Trees (Sequoia sempervirens), Redwood Regional Park, California

Life in general is a stressful process. You fight to survive, you fight to eat, you fight to mate, you fight to not end up on the street, you fight for social acceptance, you fight to find your own identity in this world. When I really want to come home feeling refreshed and born-again, I head for locations where I know I won’t be competing for tripod space and bothered mid-shot to take other people’s photos for them. A place where you can hear the birds chirping, woodpeckers boring holes, streams doing what they’ve been doing for thousands of years, where I can hear my own heartbeat. When you are out there, all the other stuff doesn’t seem so significant. The trees will still be there when I’m dead.

I had one of those experiences the other day at Redwood Regional Park. I didn’t encounter any tourists or photographers, as the only people there were locals for morning exercise. Though the forest isn’t as dense as an old-growth forest such as Muir Woods National Monument, the trees at Redwood Regional Park are still quite tall nonetheless. The experience couldn’t have been anymore different from Muir Woods however, which can resemble a zoo-like atmosphere depending on when you visit. I realize that my images from places like this aren’t going to get 500 +1′s on Google+ like a Golden Gate Bridge photo will or make me famous, and that’s fine. I am perfectly happy to continue expressing myself through my art regardless of how it is received by the masses. With that said, I’m grateful for those who have followed my work at any time over the past decade whether on the blog or elsewhere.

I just find it interesting these days with social media photo sharing being so prevalent, that people are still not venturing beyond the common postcard spots and just repeating the same thing over and over even in their portfolio. The goal seems to be to do the same things but try to top all the others. Like one big giant photo contest to be noticed. You can look at ten landscape photographer portfolios and you’ll probably see the same images in eight out of the ten. That is not my idea of nature photography. I’ve always liked the solitude that nature photography affords and to discover through my own photographic journey what has been overlooked for the milleniums. And it doesn’t have to mean traveling to rural Siberia either.

Take the below image for example. Fellow Southern California photographer, Steve Sieren, and I went to a local hiking spot in the San Gabriel Mountains on a foggy Wednesday afternoon two weeks ago. We only encountered a few people on the trail and were the only two photographers there. Though this trail is well-worn on the weekends, almost all the photographers head straight down the mountain for the waterfall without a second glance at anything else. Yet, this simple scene was the one that resonated with me during the hike. Not the waterfall. Why? Because it represented my own personal view on this world. I was the kid who sat in the back of class yet put in the work to make it through grad school. I just like doing my own thing and let the body of work speak for itself.

Forest Reflection in Shallow Pool of Water in Santa Anita Canyon, Angeles National Forest, California

Fog Rolling into Marin County, Mount Tamalpais State Park, California

Playing it safe would have been going to Muir Woods and having a relaxing time photographing really big trees in the forest. That was my original plan. I had been in the East Bay earlier in the day when it was 96 degrees, and suffering from pretty severe pollen allergies so my intent was to head over to Muir Woods where it would hopefully be cooler and provide some relief from my allergies.

I could see fog rolling in over San Francisco almost immediately after starting my drive then as I crossed the Richmond Bridge, I could see the peak of Mt. Tam rising from above the fog so I decided that I would skip Muir Woods as originally intended and opt for trying to get a foggy sunset landscape from atop Mount Tamalpais instead. I’ve tried this numerous times over the years and had only succeeded in not being completely socked in with fog twice before so I had to take this chance. Muir Woods is great but I sensed a chance for a truly memorable experience and was willing to risk not getting any images at all for my troubles.

Well what I got was 48 degrees of extremely windy fog and zero visibility. At the original Mt. Tam location I had in mind anyway. I tried another location, which I had never been to before and ended up with the above image.

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Boulder Climbing at Ring Mountain Open Space Preserve, Tiburon, California

One of the biggest differences between the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles is that the people respect the land more up here. Go on any hiking trail here and you rarely contend with empty beer bottles littering the creeks and tree carvings. Having your compositions dictated by where the tree carvings and beer bottles aren’t is hardly what I’d consider to be a gratifying photo shoot. You’ll encounter lots of active, fit people on the trails in the Bay Area. You’re just as likely to encounter a bike in the mountains as you will a car. I rarely encountered other photographers while in the field in Southern California but it’s much more common in the Bay Area. No doubt that the Bay Area is much more scenic than L.A. is but I think the difference is more cultural than anything else. I know which one suits me best.

Couple Walking on Beach with Dog at Sunset with San Francisco Skyline in Background, Alameda, California

With HDR being such a fad these days, it’s almost as if having shadows in your images is taboo. I say bullshit. Effective use of shadows is what creates drama in photos. Without contrast you have flat, soulless images or you get that garish pig vomit over-processed look. If using HDR techniques is your best option to execute upon your vision then that’s your prerogative but don’t allow that to be a crutch that hinders your growth as a photographer.

See more of my San Francisco photos.